Papillon
by pedocat pat
Summary: She whispered "Game Over" as she cocked the gun to his head. Sometimes, the ones we love are the ones we can't have. When Sakura faces off against Sasuke against the battle of two gangs, love was never a factor.


Hey guys! Forgive me, but this story kind of just...lost interest to me, and I was dealing with a lot of things in my life, and i kind of abandoned you guys .

So here I am, like a year later, doing a rewrite for you guys. I changed a lot as a person, and as a writer, so I really hope you enjoy!

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><p>Chapter one.<p>

The sound of gunshots raked the thick air, followed by screams and the screeching of wheels. Dense, putrid smoke rose, filling Sakura's nostrils. Her bare feet slapped loudly against the hot concrete. Broken glass stabbed her soles, but the pain was unregistered, and unnoticeable compared the fire in her lungs.

Another gunshot fired, and the sudden and deafening sound caused her heart to drop. She stole a glance behind her, her braids whipping the side of her face, and saw a masked man chasing after her with fierce vigor.

Without warning, the street fell away from her feet, and her small palms lashed out to catch her fall. Her knees and her palms stung, but her heartbeat and her fear were the only things she was experiencing.

Footsteps approached behind her, and she shut her eyes. _This is it. This is the end._ A hand grasped her braids and yanked them, exposing the back of her skull. She felt the cold metal of the gun pushed into her neck, and a soft click-

The gentle nudge of the flight attendant woke Sakura up from her disturbed sleep.

"We're going to be landing shortly, please buckle your seatbelt, and lift your tray." The stewardess said this all with a toothpaste commercial smile. Sakura gave a nod of acknowledgment, and the stewardess left to inform other passengers.

The nightmare rang in her mind. It was the first time in many years she had dreamed of the occurrence. Absentmindedly, she touched the vulnerable back of her head covered by her hair, and she blinked away her heavy eyes. Her heartbeat was erratic, as she struggled to compose her appearance. _Why now? I had almost forgot about that nightmare. I was so young then. That was another life. _Soon, she was interrupted by the cheerful voice of the pilot through the intercom.

"Alright folks, we will be arriving in Konoha shortly, so please buckle your seatbelts, and have a good time!"

On cue, the airplane angled downwards, ready for descent. Sakura's fingers tapped her armrest, and she sighed. _I promised myself this wouldn't happen._

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><p>Two weeks earlier-<p>

It was late at night when Sakura closed her biology textbook. her roommate was already fast asleep. Her light snoring and the occasional tick of the clock were the only sounds in the dark room. Sakura looked up at the clock. It was two. The night was still young, but Sakura could not resist the temptation of her bed. As she took off her shirt, her phone vibrated, and the blue screen lit up, casting harsh light upon the dorm room. She picked it up, and glanced at the caller ID. _Who the hell would call me at this hour? _She wondered, slightly irritated. The caller was blocked, which added further annoyance.

"Hello?" she grunted.

"Sakura? It's me, Naruto." the voice on the other side replied.

The phone dropped out of her hand.

"Hello? Sakura? Are you still there?" Naruto inquired. With trembling fingers, she picked up her phone, and hoarsely whispered.

"Naruto, I told you to never ever call me. I don't know how you received my number, but I want you to delete it."

"Sakura, we need you back." Naruto begged. "We need a leader."

"I'm not that person anymore, Naruto. Go find someone else." She impatiently replied, glad that Naruto couldn't see her shaking.

"Tsunade is...she's dead." Naruto's voice faltered, unwilling to be the harbinger of such depressing news. Sakura's heart stopped.

"She was killed by the Akatsuki. You're her successor, Sakura, you have to come back."

Tsunade...dead? No, it was impossible. Her mentor, her best friend, gone? She was the one who suggested to Sakura that she should learn medicine in America. Tsunade was the mother she never had. The one who instilled a sense of harsh reality in Sakura, the one who taught her everything she knew.

Dead. Gone forever. Trying her best to keep the emotion out of her voice, Sakura told him,

"I...I'll come back. The Akatsuki deserve to die. They will fall like a house of cards."

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><p>Present-<p>

Sakura grabbed her suitcase from the baggage retrieval, and exited the airport. Outside, the bustling, populated city filled her vision. The memories of the smoke and the sound of impatient cars hit her. The absent chatter of the streets, the loud horns, and big billboards...this was the city that she missed.

Suddenly, a violent purple corvette pulled into view, and stopped right before her. Loud pop music blasted from the car, and the dark tinted windows slowly rolled down.

"Get in, forehead." Ino Yamanaka smirked, and unlocked the doors. Sakura grinned, and climbed into the corvette.

"You're as pig-headed as ever." stated Sakura, looking over at the gorgeous blonde. Ino huffed.

"And your forehead is as big as ever." she replied, irked. They both laughed, but both fell into silence, unsure of what to say.

"How...how is everyone doing?" Sakura inquired, while picking at the loose threads of her sweater. Ino shrugged.

"We're okay. Naruto is still as rash and stupid as ever. Hinata is still hopelessly in love with that loser. Shikamaru is still a lazy asshole. Neji and Tenten are still fighting it out."

Sakura nodded, absorbing the information.

"We... we really miss you, you know." Ino confessed, steadily keeping her eyes on the road.

Sakura glanced towards her suitcase. "I know. I'm sorry for leaving." she looked up at the blonde, and realized that under all the glamour and the smiles, Ino was easily hurt, especially when her best friend walked out of her life.

Ino glanced at Sakura, and smiled. "What matters is that you're back."

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><p>Ino and Sakura climbed down the stairs of the abandoned subway, and ducked under the old DO NOT ENTER sign. They came to a large, locked steel door, and Sakura stated,<p>

"You guys decided to up the security, huh." Ino chuckled.

"We aren't just any other street gang, you know. We have valuable things in there." See this door? It requires a retinal scan, and if that weren't enough, there's also voice recognition. You're being watched right now by state of the art security camera. If I weren't here with you, you'd probably be dead by now, because your face isn't registered." Sakura let out a low whistle, impressed.

"Damn. Doesn't that seem a little unnecessary, though? How much does it take to upkeep all this security?" Ino only smirked.

"Babe, I have connections. All this was thanks to one of my ex's. I give them what they want to see, and they give me this." Sakura shook her head, disbelieving. "Besides, some akatsuki bastard managed to sneak in a couple of years ago and he stole some pretty valuable information, so we keep everything nice and tight around here."

Just as they were speaking, the steel door unlocked with a loud hiss. Ino pushed it open, and promptly yelled.

"EVERYONE LISTEN UP. SAKURA'S BACK."

A hundred eyes looked up, and a hundred mouths fell open.

"Sakura!" "It's really you!" "Oh my goodness!" She was suddenly tackled by everyone she had missed so much while she was gone. Tears welled in her eyes, even though she promised herself she would never cry.

She was back.

Sakura was born into the world of crime. Her parents were leaders of a powerful crime circle, rivaled only by the formidable Akatsuki. Her father taught her that a king, without his queen or his pawns, was nothing but a weak, old fool. The strength of a gang relied not upon the king, but of the understated pawns. Naruto, Hinata, Ino, Shikamaru, Tenten, Neji, Rock Lee, Kiba...they were all people she grew up with. They trained together, lived together, and they were there for every high and low. Inseparable, always together.

Everything crashed when Sakura's parents died. Murdered, the police said, poisoned by rat poison. The cops never found the killers, but everyone knew it was the Akatsuki.

Tsunade, the oldest and most honored member, then took control of the crime circle, and after a couple of years, convinced Sakura to leave the gang to pursue her dream of studying medicine. Tsunade was the one who viewed Sakura as more than the daughter of the two fiercest crime leaders in Japan. She knew Sakura had dreams and aspirations.

Sakura then departed for America after high school, and led a normal life. She studied medicine at Harvard, had a boyfriend, and trustworthy friends. No one knew about her violent history. It was something that she always thought she would throw away, until the fateful phone call brought her back to her old, abandoned life.

Sakura smiled, then, with tears in her eyes, and exclaimed,

"I missed you all!" For the first time in many years, she felt a certain sense of warmth that she had almost forgotten about. The warmth of security, and the presence of real friends and family.

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><p>Itachi Uchiha leaned against the door frame of his little brother's study.<p>

"Sasuke."

The latter grunted in acknowledgment, without taking his eyes off of the computer.

"You know the Harunos?"

"The ones who died 10 years ago?" Sasuke responded with little interest

"Yeah. Their daughter is back. She's leading now." Itachi watched carefully for his brother's reaction. Sasuke glanced up and took off his reading glasses.

"What's her name?" He asked. Itachi shrugged.

"I don't know. No one knows what she looks like, or her name, or where she lives. It's almost as if she doesn't exist. But we do know that she came back from America recently, probably because Tsunade died." Itachi lit up a cigarette, and took a long drag. he gave a slow chuckle.

"This will be fun, won't it, little brother?"

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><p>For the next few days, Sakura became acquainted again with her city. Returning to Konoha was like seeing an old friend after many years. She was a piece of a jigsaw puzzle, fitting right in the beautiful tapestry of the metropolis. <em>This is what home feels like.<em>

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><p>I think that's all for this time! :D I really sincerely hoped you enjoyed it. Please leave suggestions as to what will happen in the next chapter,and also a name for Sakura's gang. I'm lost there ;A;<p>

Thanks for reading me!


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